A-Rod's quest for fame backfired

It wasn't enough for Roger Clemens to be the best pitcher of his generation, to win a dugout full of Cy Young Awards and to guarantee himself a bust in the Hall of Fame. He wanted more. He wanted to be the best of all time.

And, of course, he wanted to make another $100 million as he walked out the door. So, his former trainer says, he nourished and prolonged his career with steroids.

It wasn't enough for Barry Bonds to carve a place in baseball record books and Cooperstown as one of the most complete players of his time. He wanted to be the greatest home-run hitter the game has seen, and he craved the big-money contracts that would come to the game's ultimate superstar.

So, the government says, Bonds took steroids to help him surpass Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. And if Bonds cheated, he was even willing to cheapen the career of his uncle, Willie Mays, another icon whose numbers Bonds kicked aside.

And now comes Alex Rodriguez.

It wasn't enough for A-Rod to compile some of the most dazzling offensive numbers the game has seen. He wanted more, too. So, he put his legacy and clean-cut image in jeopardy, used steroids from 2001-03, he admitted yesterday.

These three great players were bound for the Hall of Fame, but they got greedy and wanted more -- more fame, more adulation, more money. More home runs. More pitching victories. More World Series rings.

"I was young. I was stupid," Rodriguez said, adding that he wanted to be known as "one of the greatest players of all-time."

Now these three might never make it into the Hall of Fame. And they certainly will never be known as the greatest.